Join us for our FIRST book delivery of 2019 to the 640+ children at Smith Springs Elementary School in Antioch, TN on Friday, March 1st. We will meet at Smith Springs Community Center (2801 Smith Springs Rd.) at 12:00pm. We’re kicking off the delivery season on the weekend of Dr. Seuss’ B-day and National Read Across America Day so come dressed as your favorite Dr. Seuss character! Light snacks, drinks and cupcakes will be provided.

1 in 300.
According to the Handbook of Early Literacy Research, the ratio of books per child in low-income neighborhoods is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children.

Ride for Reading’s mission is to promote literacy-readiness and healthy-living by delivering age appropriate books to children in low-income communities, by bicycle. Since 2008, we have mobilized over 20,000 volunteers to deliver over 500,000 books to over 300 schools in over 50 cities across the U.S. Founded here locally in Nashville, we host 8-9 book deliveries during the school year, to Title 1 schools. Additionally, we partner with Community Centers and Summer School programs and other Literacy Partners during the summer months to deliver books. Ride for Reading believes that education is not only found within the four walls of a school building, but within the pages of a book you can go anywhere, see anything, and experience everything. Every child deservs that despite economic status.

Volunteers are the core of our mission and we couldn’t do what we do without the help of the community! We are in the need of volunteer CYCLISTS and READERS on an ongoing basis to join us on our book deliveries March – November to deliver 1,000+ books by bicycle to some very excited children! The book delivery consists of volunteers gathering at a Meet-up location to load up books in backpacks, trailers, etc. and riding our bikes together as a group (parade-style) to the School where hundreds of children welcome our volunteers with cheers, smiles, high-fives and hugs! We will share with the children the importance of literacy-readiness and healthy-living through activities like cycling. Volunteers will have the opportunity to interact with the students as they are picking out their books! The delivery route will be no more than 2-5 miles and relatively flat. The delivery will last approximately 2-2.5 hours, so please plan accordingly. We understand many of you are sacrificing your lunches and personal time, so thank you in advance!

CYCLISTS
Please bring your own bike. All levels of cyclists welcome! If you do not have a bike, many local bike shops offer bike rentals. Please bring a backpack to carry your books in and everyone must wear a helmet (we have a few spare backpacks/helmets to lend).

READERS
On each delivery, we are also looking for volunteers to read a book to the pre-K, K and 1st grade classes. If you do not want to ride a bike and would just like to volunteer as a reader, you can meet us to gather some books to take with you and then follow us to the school. Cyclists are welcome to register for both options.

We are excited to share the love of reading (literacy-readiness) & cycling (healthy-living) with these children. We promise, you will never forget the experience of 300-600+ children excited to see so many people from their community bringing them their very own books! The more the merrier- invite your friends, family, co-workers & work teams, bike club members and someone you know that has never experienced a delivery before & join us to impact the lives of several children in our Community.